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Two of the biggest stars for the second-ranked Crimson Tide gave different accounts of what it was like to dominate Auburn 49-0 Saturday in the 77th Iron Bowl.

McCarron, who completed 15 of 21 passes for 216 yards and four touchdowns, acted as if beating the Tide's biggest rival was just another game. Jones, a senior playing in his final game at Bryant-Denny Stadium, was the complete opposite.

“Victory is victory to me,” McCarron said. “I don't ever pay attention to the team we play, so, I don't think it matters really as long as we go out there and do our job.”

As for Jones, “Our rival is Auburn, and we beat them pretty good. That was a lot of fun.”

It must have been.

Alabama (11-1) scored touchdowns on its first seven possessions and roared into next week's Southeastern Conference championship game against No. 3 Georgia needing a win to play for its third BCS title in four years.

Auburn, which ended its season at 3-9, had no answer for McCarron, the Jones-anchored offensive line and an up-tempo attack that kept it off-balance throughout the game. Alabama converted its first 11 third-down attempts and took advantage of numerous missed tackles and blown assignments in the secondary.

“Obviously, that was a very disappointing and embarrassing loss to our in-state rivals,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. “It was a sad performance, and the Auburn fans and the Auburn alumni don't deserve that.”

Alabama led 42-0 at halftime and likely could have scored as many points as it wanted, but Alabama coach Nick Saban emptied the bench early in the third quarter.

It was the only thing that could slow down an offense that outgained Auburn 483-163 for the game.

“We played well in the game,” Saban said. “We asked for everyone to play their best game today. When you make a commitment to something, it comes from the heart, and I really thought our players did that.”

The key to victory was the no-huddle offense and McCarron's ability to check into the right play.

“We went a little up-tempo to avoid having bad plays and everybody did a good job of executing; AJ McCarron especially getting us in the right play and the offensive line making the right adjustments,” Saban said. “We were effective running, had pretty good protection most of the time when we threw it, we made some explosive plays both ways. I think the offensive line contributed to that significantly.”

McCarron threw three touchdowns passes in the first half, two to Amari Cooper and one to Kevin Norwood. He connected with Norwood again for a score on the first drive of the second half. Cooper had a game-high 109 yards on five catches.

“I felt like we had a good week of study on them (and) felt like I knew what they were going to do every play,” McCarron said. “Everybody did a good job and was on their assignments.”

Eddie Lacy scored two first-half touchdowns and T.J. Yeldon, a freshman who originally committed to Auburn before switching to the Tide, also scored in the first quarter. Lacy had a game-high 131 yards rushing, while Yeldon went for 67 yards rushing.

“We had some outstanding performances today,” Saban said. “Eddie Lacy did a good job, the offensive line did a good job and AJ McCarron had a good game today. Amari Cooper had some big catches. This was a great team victory. Everybody contributed.”

While the Alabama offense was clicking, the defense was doing its job, too. The Tide allowed Auburn to cross midfield only twice. The Tigers reached as far as Alabama's 41-yard line in the first quarter, but facing fourth-and-5 and already trailing 14-0, Chizik opted to punt.

Alabama forced three turnovers with interceptions by Robert Lester and Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix and a fumble recovery by Dee Milliner. Nico Johnson forced the fumble.

“Our team goal is three turnovers a game,” Johnson said. “Fortunately, we met our goal today.

“We feel like when we get turnovers and everybody is flying around hitting, knocking the ball off people, we're having fun.”

For Auburn, freshman quarterback Jonathan Wallace completed just 5 of 14 passes for 71 yards. He engineered an offense that gained just seven first downs and had to punt seven times.

Tre Mason was the leading rusher for the Tigers with 82 yards.

“It's really frustrating, but we dug ourselves into a hole,” Mason said. “Next year, we just have to put the pieces of the puzzle together.”

Next year is in limbo for Chizik, as there's been speculation he may lose his job after one of the worst season's in Auburn football history.

He hasn't addressed what he thinks his future is with Auburn, but he knows there wasn't a lot of positives in 2012.

“There weren't many,” Chizik said. “I think we have to go back and really look at it and see what positives we can pull out of it.

“Any time you're in a 3-9 season, it's really hard to tell you, ‘I can think of a lot of positives' because there just weren't many.”

<p>TUSCALOOSA — Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron and center Barrett Jones obviously have to be on the same page when on the field.</p><p>Off the field? Well, that may be a bit different.</p><p>Two of the biggest stars for the second-ranked Crimson Tide gave different accounts of what it was like to dominate Auburn 49-0 Saturday in the 77th Iron Bowl.</p><p>McCarron, who completed 15 of 21 passes for 216 yards and four touchdowns, acted as if beating the Tide's biggest rival was just another game. Jones, a senior playing in his final game at Bryant-Denny Stadium, was the complete opposite.</p><p>“Victory is victory to me,” McCarron said. “I don't ever pay attention to the team we play, so, I don't think it matters really as long as we go out there and do our job.”</p><p>As for Jones, “Our rival is Auburn, and we beat them pretty good. That was a lot of fun.”</p><p>It must have been.</p><p>Alabama (11-1) scored touchdowns on its first seven possessions and roared into next week's Southeastern Conference championship game against No. 3 Georgia needing a win to play for its third BCS title in four years.</p><p>Auburn, which ended its season at 3-9, had no answer for McCarron, the Jones-anchored offensive line and an up-tempo attack that kept it off-balance throughout the game. Alabama converted its first 11 third-down attempts and took advantage of numerous missed tackles and blown assignments in the secondary.</p><p>“Obviously, that was a very disappointing and embarrassing loss to our in-state rivals,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. “It was a sad performance, and the Auburn fans and the Auburn alumni don't deserve that.”</p><p>Alabama led 42-0 at halftime and likely could have scored as many points as it wanted, but Alabama coach Nick Saban emptied the bench early in the third quarter. </p><p>It was the only thing that could slow down an offense that outgained Auburn 483-163 for the game.</p><p>“We played well in the game,” Saban said. “We asked for everyone to play their best game today. When you make a commitment to something, it comes from the heart, and I really thought our players did that.”</p><p>The key to victory was the no-huddle offense and McCarron's ability to check into the right play.</p><p>“We went a little up-tempo to avoid having bad plays and everybody did a good job of executing; AJ McCarron especially getting us in the right play and the offensive line making the right adjustments,” Saban said. “We were effective running, had pretty good protection most of the time when we threw it, we made some explosive plays both ways. I think the offensive line contributed to that significantly.”</p><p>McCarron threw three touchdowns passes in the first half, two to Amari Cooper and one to Kevin Norwood. He connected with Norwood again for a score on the first drive of the second half. Cooper had a game-high 109 yards on five catches.</p><p>“I felt like we had a good week of study on them (and) felt like I knew what they were going to do every play,” McCarron said. “Everybody did a good job and was on their assignments.”</p><p>Eddie Lacy scored two first-half touchdowns and T.J. Yeldon, a freshman who originally committed to Auburn before switching to the Tide, also scored in the first quarter. Lacy had a game-high 131 yards rushing, while Yeldon went for 67 yards rushing.</p><p>“We had some outstanding performances today,” Saban said. “Eddie Lacy did a good job, the offensive line did a good job and AJ McCarron had a good game today. Amari Cooper had some big catches. This was a great team victory. Everybody contributed.”</p><p>While the Alabama offense was clicking, the defense was doing its job, too. The Tide allowed Auburn to cross midfield only twice. The Tigers reached as far as Alabama's 41-yard line in the first quarter, but facing fourth-and-5 and already trailing 14-0, Chizik opted to punt.</p><p>Alabama forced three turnovers with interceptions by Robert Lester and Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix and a fumble recovery by Dee Milliner. Nico Johnson forced the fumble.</p><p>“Our team goal is three turnovers a game,” Johnson said. “Fortunately, we met our goal today. </p><p>“We feel like when we get turnovers and everybody is flying around hitting, knocking the ball off people, we're having fun.”</p><p>For Auburn, freshman quarterback Jonathan Wallace completed just 5 of 14 passes for 71 yards. He engineered an offense that gained just seven first downs and had to punt seven times.</p><p>Tre Mason was the leading rusher for the Tigers with 82 yards.</p><p>“It's really frustrating, but we dug ourselves into a hole,” Mason said. “Next year, we just have to put the pieces of the puzzle together.”</p><p>Next year is in limbo for Chizik, as there's been speculation he may lose his job after one of the worst season's in Auburn football history.</p><p>He hasn't addressed what he thinks his future is with Auburn, but he knows there wasn't a lot of positives in 2012.</p><p>“There weren't many,” Chizik said. “I think we have to go back and really look at it and see what positives we can pull out of it. </p><p>“Any time you're in a 3-9 season, it's really hard to tell you, 'I can think of a lot of positives' because there just weren't many.”</p>